I worked into work dressed in uniform. I don't know why I had chosen to work at a place that required me to wear a skirt. Maybe it was the fact that I spent so much time there when I was younger. Maybe it was the fact that the lounge singer was my friends' mom and she could be used as a good reference. Maybe I thought I wouldn't have to wear a skirt. Whatever the reason was, I took my post behind the candy counter and started to stock the shelves.
"Hey Max." Maddie, the assistant manager said. Maddie had actually worked my job before she was promoted. "We're having a party for Zack, Cody, and London tomorrow night since they're coming home for Christmas and all. You wanna come?"
"I have to work tomorrow night." I replied.
"I'm sure Millicent could cover your shift." She said. "You should come. I think Zack and Cody would be happy to see you. I mean who better to welcome you back to town than your first friend from said town."
"I'll think about it." I remarked. I didn't really want to go because I hadn't exactly spoken to Zack since middle school. Now here we were in our junior year. I kissed him once. I even went out with him once. The question was would he even remember me. And don't think there would be any doubt that he would be into me because I had boobs but would that mean anything? Would he stick around for me or would we just have a few weeks together before he left again? Yes I liked him again. It wasn't hard to do. All of my following relationships were so bad that one bad date with him looked like a night in Paris or maybe I loved him. No, that couldn't be it. At least, I didn't want that to be it.
"Well if you do make sure you have a nice dress." She remarked.
"Okay definitely not coming now." I responded. I hated wearing dresses just like I hated wearing skirts.
"Come on Max it's a party, you gotta look nice." Maddie begged. "I bet I could find something out of London's closet for you."
While London was away, she had given Maddie full control of her massive closet as long as she didn't take anything. I'd heard that stepping into that closet was like going to a New York fashion district store.
"I don't know what Zack's going to say." I commented.
"Well if you like it him, it might save me the trouble of telling him that I got engaged." She said.
"I don't like him." I objected. "It's just that there's a history between us."
"Wait, were that girl that Zack was making out with in the laundry room?" She asked. I blushed heavily at her insinuation.
"No I don't know anything about that." I replied. "I meant that we shared our first kiss together. Well not shared since it was mostly me."
"Oh that shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure Zack has kissed a lot of girls since then. I've even kissed him." She remarked.
"When did that happen?" I questioned.
"It was when I went on vacation on the SS Tipton. We visited the nation of Lichtenstamp and Zack had to get me out of a marriage to a 10-year-old prince." She explained.
"Isn't it every girl's dream to marry a prince?" I teased.
"Not one who's 4 feet tall." Maddie remarked as she rolled her eyes. "So anyway I really want you to come. I may even cover for you and leave you clocked in."
"I can't do that." I replied. "I'll come but you have to promise to keep me clocked out."
"Great put up your closed sign and I'll take you up to London's room." She instructed.
"Are you sure I should do this now?" I asked.
"Max if there are problems, then I can take the blame for them." Maddie remarked. "Besides it's really not that busy this time of year because most people like to have their candy after Christmas."
I put up the sign and followed Maddie to the elevator. We took it the 25th floor. It was the one floor that I had never been to because it was just London's penthouse. Maddie used her master key to open the lock and we headed inside. The first that I noticed was that it was very huge and very pink and sparkly. Even the doorknobs were bedazzled. Maddie took me into the closet. I couldn't believe it. It was bigger than my room. Maddie was right. It did look like a clothing store.
"So if I remember correctly dresses are in the northeast corner." Maddie remarked as I walked with her through the closet. She took me to a room labeled DRESSES and we walked inside. Everything was on racks and sorted by color. "You see anything that you like?"
"You know I don't like dresses." I replied.
"Do you see anything you would wear?" She rephrased.
"I guess I could try on a few of them." I said.
"Great so why don't you take off your uniform and we can get started." Maddie instructed.
I began to remove my clothes.
"Okay let's start with something like this." Maddie said as she handed me a white one. I slipped it on and immediately felt uncomfortable. For one it was pretty short as in as short as my skirt, maybe shorter. On top of that, it pretty much put my boobs on display.
"Maddie I can't wear this." I complained. "It makes me look…"
"Like a teenage girl at a party?" Maddie suggested. 'Come on you know it really isn't that bad and besides don't you want Zack to notice you?"
"He'll probably notice you first." I commented.
"Maybe but we'll talk, I'll tell him I'm engaged." She implied. "He may not immediately take to the idea so that's where you come in. You just need to help get his mind off of it. I'm sure you can help him have fun."
"So you're pimping me out?" I asked.
"Get your mind out of the gutter." She ordered. "You are friends, I know that you can continue to be friends…if you have sex with him it will probably because you want to."
"Can we stop talking about the possibility of me and him having sex? I don't want that okay. I don't know what it means to other people but to mean it should mean love. It should come no earlier than a few weeks into a relationship."
"You have good morals." Maddie complimented. "Anyway don't think of it as dressing like a whore. Think of it as dressing like a girl who is confident and not ashamed of her body. You definitely pull the dress off."
"I don't really like the color." I commented.
"Well what color do you like?" She asked.
"I was thinking of something more bluish." I replied. "So do you really think Zack will wanna hang out with me if I'm dressed like this? And are you sure that this won't come off as me being desperate."
"No desperate is something like this." Maddie said as she held up another dress. Well calling it a dress would be pushing it a little. Shirt might have been a more accurate description. "You'll be fine. I bet a lot of girls will be dressed like that."
"What am I supposed to do about the cold?" I asked.
"You wear a heavy coat over it." Maddie instructed. "Now let's find one that is more to your liking. Oh and this time you'll probably need to take your bra off."
"If I didn't know better I'd think you liked watching me undress." I joked.
"Hmm I like the sarcastic humor." She commented.
"So why are you helping me anyway?" I asked.
"Because you're like a little sister to me." She answered
"Don't you have a little sister?" I reminded her.
"Yes but you're less annoying than my little sister." She pointed out as I threw on the dress.
So, tomorrow night just happened to be Christmas Eve. The SS Tipton had docked and the twins would have already arrived. I imagine that they didn't know that I worked there. I kind of asked Carey not to tell them that. She didn't understand why but she agreed. Millicent was covering my shift because I don't think she had much of a life outside of the Tipton. I was wearing my blue dress and a black overcoat. I walked into the Tipton where several people had already gathered. Among the guests were Esteban, the manager, Carey, Maddie, and Arwin the handyman. The fact in the matter is that Zack and Cody didn't leave very many friends behind. The list dwindled even more when Barbara, Cody's girlfriend cheated on him with their friend Bob. There was also the fact that the British twins Jessica and Janice had landed a modeling contract. Come to think of it, it's possible I might be the only friend that they have in Boston that is the same age.
"Ah it's good to be home." Cody said as he walked in.
"Hello little blonde peoples." Esteban greeted them.
"It's good to see you Esteban." Zack remarked. "So how's the wife?"
"She's very energetic. She tires me out every now and then." He replied.
"Okay didn't really need to know that." Cody commented. I tuned out after that. I headed over to the punch bowl and decided that I would talk to them later. I was looking at the floor and noticed nothing but pairs of shoes. I ended up walking into something who was wearing a pair of shoes.
"Damn it." Zack said as the punch I was holding spilled on him. I was luckily spared which was good because I definitely didn't want to get liquid on London's dress that she didn't know I had. "Wait a minute, Max?"
I nodded my head and suddenly his arms wrapped around me.
"It's good to see you." He said to me. "So what's with the dress?"
"I thought I would try something different." I lied. "Do you like it?"
"I think it looks great." He replied. "I just didn't know that you had the curves to something like that out."
"Well it's been a while since we've seen each other." I mused. "It's been since middle school."
"Yeah where did you go anyway?" He asked.
"Private school." I answered. "My parents thought that it would look better on college applications. I didn't want to go but I also knew that getting kicked out would look very bad on college applications so I'm basically stuck there. So how's the school on the ship? Is it as fun as I've heard?"
"Yeah kind of." He replied. "The teacher is has had enough relationship problems to her have own sitcom though. Hey do you wanna get out of here by any chance?"
"Zack this party is for you." I told him.
"I know but the whole Maddie's fiancé being here with Zac Efron-like appearance is kind of harshing the vibe." Zack responded. I had never before but Maddie's fiancé Trevor did look a lot like Zac Efron. They could be twins or something like that. "I was thinking we could head somewhere and do something fun: just you and me. We haven't done anything together in a long time."
"What exactly are we going to do? It's Christmas Eve. Nowhere is open." I pointed out.
"Well we could maybe head up to my room." He suggested. "So where did you get that dress anyway? It looks expensive."
"Maddie loaned it to me." I said.
"I didn't know that you and Maddie knew each other that well." He remarked.
"We really got to know each other better since I started working here." I explained.
"I'm the candy counter girl after Maddie got promoted." I told him as we started to walk toward the elevator. It seemed like I was going to be alone with him. I didn't exactly know what was going to follow.
"So do you wanna play some Guitar Hero?" Zack asked as we entered his room.
"Is that game so 2008?" I asked.
"It is but I haven't been here since 2008 so you have to cut me some slack. It would be good for nostalgia purposes." He answered.
"You don't have anything else do you?" I asked.
"Nope." He answered.
"I guess a little nostalgia wouldn't hurt." I agreed. "But you are so going down."
"I don't think so." He countered
We set up the game that hardly anyone played anymore. It was pretty fun actually. It still wasn't the same as playing a real guitar though.
"Ooh the next song is November Rain. I am going to own this one." He commented. "I'm going to get a perfect."
"There's no way you can get a perfect on that song." I argued. "That's a nice minute song."
"Wanna bet?" He asked.
"Maybe." I said. "What will do if I win?"
"I'll drink a whole bottle of hot sauce." He answered. "And I win you have to kiss me that second kiss that I have been waiting for since the club."
I smiled. "We have a deal." I said as I shook his hand.
So he began to play the song. Eight minutes in he still hadn't missed a note. He was toward the end when I suddenly noticed a cockroach on the floor. It started to crawl up his leg.
"Ahh bug!" Zack shouted as he desperately tried to get it off. He fell to the floor, missing every note. Therefore he did not get a perfect.
"Looks like you lose." I announced as I helped him off the floor. "Close your eyes and I'll go get the hot sauce."
"Why do you want me to do that?" He asked as he shut his eyes.
"Just do it and don't open them until I say so." I ordered.
I went to the kitchen and picked up a bottle of hot sauce from the refrigerator. After making sure that it was expired, I prepared myself. I put the hot sauce on my lips. It was a little hot at first but I could deal. I walked over to him. His eyes were still closed.
"Okay I got it." I said.
"Do I need to open my mouth?" He asked.
"No just stay still." I told him but I pressed my tainted lips against his. He opened his eyes to make sure that I was kissing him before closing them again. We had a long kiss that ended when we need to breathe.
"So I guess you wanted to kiss me then." He proposed.
"You assume correctly." I said. "I don't want you to go back to that ship."
"Why not?" He asked.
"Because I want you to stay here so I can have you." I remarked. "I want to be your girlfriend Zack."
"What if instead of me staying here, you come with me?" He questioned.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"From what I've heard enrollment is still open for next semester." He explained. "I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind because it counts about the same as a private school and studying abroad might look even better on college applications."
"Did you plan this?" I asked.
"No but I think it would be a good idea." He said.
"I'll talk to my parents about it." I responded. "In the mean time I wanna kiss you again."
"That can be arranged." He said as our lips locked once again.
So I have another Christmas story. This one with Zack and Max who needed a few more stories about them. Please review.